We're on a road trip! .........

Hello there .........

OK, so this feels a little weird.  It's been such a long time since I blogged, and it's even longer since I actually did any crafting so, I haven't really had anything to share.

There is a reason for that however, life has changed a little over the last few months, let me fill you in.  That's of course if there's still any of you out there reading this.

You may, or may not, remember that hubby was made redundant last year, and although he did look for a new job, nothing seemed to quite hit the spot. 

So, to cut a long story short,  after a lot of late night discussions,  and many 'shall we do this' or 'maybe we shouldn't do this yet' conversations, we sat down, did some research and all the sums, and finally decided to turn this into an opportunity to do something we've been planning to do ever since we bought the motorhome ........ we're taking a year or so out to do some travelling in it!!!!  

Not sure where we'll end up, no real plan or route as such, we're just going to see where the road takes us!!

Let's face it, we're not getting any younger, and if we're going to do it then now is the time, whilst we're both relatively healthy.   Both kids are settled, have their own places and don't really need us that much so why not! (I do miss the grandkids though ...... thank goodness for video calls!) 

So, we spent a couple of months making lists,  organising stuff and packing the van ....... I mean what do you really need for 12 months on the road!!!  Time will tell if we got it right, although we're not doing too badly so far.

We packed up everything else in the house, and it's all gone into storage ...... boy! there was a lot of boxes.  

I won't deny that it was all a little scary the day the removal men came, and I did have a wobble or two, and wonder whether we were doing the right thing.

But, on March 16th 2024 we locked the front door for the last time, handed over the keys, said our teary goodbyes, and started out on Remi's longest trip yet.

Thankfully it was a lovely morning.  Blue skies and sunshine, which was perfect as we were on the early morning ferry.

It was a little sad to be waving goodbye to our little island but, we will be back, at some point I'm sure.

It was our first time on the new boat too which was exciting ...... it's lovely, and its so BIG!!

We had a great crossing. 

We're currently in our 6th week of  'van life' and we're loving it!

So far we've been to Newark in Nottinghamshire.  Our first port of call for Remi's annual service.

We had a walk into the town and down by the river

                                                                                   

And look what we found ....... what a selection!  That was the wine sorted for the next few weeks anyway.

We headed off to the Cotswolds next for a few days just to get back into the swing of van life again.  Then it was off to the Cheltenham and Gloucester area for what ended up as a very wet Easter weekend.

Next was Wells and Glastonbury in Somerset.   Wells cathedral was pretty spectacular .....

Hmmmmm ....... not sure they would let him play that!

We stayed at few nights at Longleat, right next to the safari park.  Then it was off to Salisbury for a couple of days to meet up with some friends, which was lovely, before heading down to Dorset.  

We're currently on the Dorset/Hampshire border at a really nice campsite called Back of Beyond.  It's our first time here but I can tell you, it won't be our last.  

It's so peaceful (Adults only), the site and all it's facilities are fab.  And, the weather is finally coming good ......... oh no, maybe I shouldn't have said that!!!

The weather hasn't been too kind to us since we came away ....... we've been through two storms, seen day after day of wind and rain,  and it's been so cold!  We even had hail at one point!  Lucky I brought my thermals with me.

The weather didn't stop us getting the BBQ out though ......

When there's fillet steaks on the menu its the only way to cook them

Perfect, eaten inside the van, with a nice bottle of red.  I can get used to this van life!

Sorry there's not more pictures of the places we've been so far.  Hopefully that will all change as time moves on.

We're starting to head North again at the weekend.  Cirencester, and back to the Cotswolds.  Broadway this time, one of our favourite places.  A quick stop off to see family again and then it's up to the Yorkshire Dales, and we're heading for Scotland sometime around the middle of May.

And that's as far as we've planned up to now.  We do have to be in Norfolk for the beginning of July but that's a while off yet so we can take our time and enjoy the journey!

I am hoping to blog a little more frequently again now that I've made a start, and you never know I may just start to craft a little once things settle down.  I have brought a craft stash with me albeit a basic one but, you never know, the old mojo may appear somewhere along the way.

Hubby also wants to keep a record of our trip, places we've been, our favourite spots, places of interest etc.,  so if you're interested in coming along with us watch this space and I'll let you know when its up and running.

Thanks for popping by ....... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time (hopefully it won't be as long a gap!)

 

We're on the road again .........

Happy weekend .......

How's your June going?

It's been a busy couple of weeks on the island, and we had an absolutely fabulous TT!!  

The sun shone everyday, and the racing was amazing!!!  So many records were broken ...... those boys are fast!!!! 

We had our annual trip to Bushey's for a cheeky beer or two (have to go at least once during TT) 

The Red Arrows gave us a great display .......

And Senior Race Day was on the Saturday, which meant there was an extra day of racing

We were up and the Grandstand, and had a great view of the start.

And on top of all that, I had to get the van ready for our latest adventure.

Yes, we're on the road again ........ I know, we've only been back for a little over three weeks but, we're trying to make the most of the motorhome and fit in as many trips as we can this year.  Plus, the weather is too nice to miss.

We came across to the UK yesterday and drove down to Birmingham.   Not very glamorous I hear you say but, we're staying on a lovely campsite called Somer's Wood Caravan Park, about three miles from the NEC (National Exhibition Centre)

What a little gem!  Not far from the motorway, located next to Stonebridge Golf Course and is so quiet and peaceful.  It was the perfect spot for us as we've started our trip with a visit to the Good Food Show today at the NEC.

We've walked miles, my 10,000 steps were done well before lunchtime!  

It got very busy.  We've tasted all sorts of goodies,  stocked up the van for the trip, bought a new gadget for the BBQ and,  we went to see James Martin in action creating a lovely summer meal ...... will be trying out those recipes  when we get home.

We also bought his gin, which is very nice ....... we were trying that at 10 this morning!!!  Well, it was 5 o'clock somewhere 🍸

We're back at the van now and, it's just started to rain ...... yeah!!  You could almost hear the grass sigh with relief.  Hopefully a good downpour will clear the air.

We're off on our travels again tomorrow, heading for one of our favourite places.  

We usually stay there with the family, in a cottage, but this time we're taking Remi.  We're off to lovely Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds ..... it's been a while!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy your weekend

I think it's time to open that bottle of gin don't you ......... cheers!

Cheerio until next time .......

 

Have you missed me? ..........

Surprise!!

Yes it's me, I am still here!

I know ....... it's been a while since I blogged ....... well over three months in fact!!!!   

In case any of you have been wondering where I've been well, I've no real excuse except to say that life happens, and just gets in the way!

 

Since my last post, we've had many birthday celebrations (including mine!).  We celebrated Burn's Night back in January at our favourite restaurant (the owner is Scottish!).

We had more snow on the island in March ...... woke up to this one morning! (thankfully it didn't hang around too long!).

We saw Elvis at the Villa Marina (well sort of)

and Boyzlife ....... (I'm getting too old to be watching these guys!)

and we had our first motorhome trip of the year, which was unfortunately cut short because hubby wasn't well.  

Nothing too serious (we think, we hope), just a lot of back pain which meant he couldn't drive, so we had to head home early.  

Since then he's had blood tests, physio, and an MRI (which we are waiting for the results of), but things seem to be getting better (fingers crossed!).

All these sort of things just seem to take over, and then the longer the break from blogging gets, the harder it is to get back into the swing of things.  Plus, I haven't really been spending a lot of time in the craft room recently, and when I have been in there, it's just been me playing in my journals, so nothing really to blog!  

I am going to try and get back into the habit of being here more often, and, I'm going to have to get back in the craft room on a regular basis, as my card stash is dwindling fast!!!

Anyhow, welcome to May!  I hope you're all well and have enjoyed the long weekend, the first of three this month here in the UK.  I say here in the UK because that's where we are at the moment ...... Scotland to be exact!  

We're on our latest roadtrip in the van.  We've been across since last Thursday (27th April) and we're not back on the island until May 20th, so it's a nice long trip, and as I said we're here in bonnie Scotland, again.

Our trip started with a morning ferry from the Isle of Man across to Heysham.  We then drove up to Falkirk and had an overnight stay not far from the Kelpies ........

The weather wasn't brilliant when we got there but, I had to go and see them ....... twice.  Well, it would have been a shame not to see them all lit up ...... they looked amazing.

Next day we headed off to Killin, and the Falls of Dochart.  

We had three nights on a lovely little campsite just outside the village.  

We visited the falls ......

Sampled the local food ........ my first haggis of the trip

Walked along the banks of Loch Tay .....

And of course purchased a couple of souvenirs ......

Again, the weather wasn't great ...... this is Scotland, in the beginning of May, we weren't quite sure what to expect, but we didn't get wet which was a bonus!

This morning, we drove north-west, through stunning Glencoe, and we're now parked on the banks overlooking Loch Linnhe.  Our home for the next few days is Bunree Campsite not far from the town (or village) of Onich.  

Not a bad way to spend the Bank Holiday ........

Well, enough about our travels for now, I actually have some crafty stuff to share.

If you're a Sweet Poppy Stencils fan then you've probably seen that they have a gorgeous new stamp release ...... a collection of nine beautiful botanical images, designed exclusively for Sweet Poppy.

If you love floral images, and you like to colour, then these will be perfect for you.  The hard part will be choosing your favourites!

I had chance to work with a few of the new stamps before we left on our trip.  

Here's a couple of ideas using one of my favourites ........ the pretty Sweet Pea

I do love Sweet Peas and this is such a pretty stamp.

I masked off the edges of a piece of white cardstock and then used Distress Inks to add some colour to the background.

With the masking tape still in place I stamped the Sweet Pea image off the edges of the coloured panel using Versamark Ink, and heat then embossed with WOW's new Polished Silver EP (my new favourite embossing powder ...... it's so shiny!) 

Once this was heat set, I removed the masking tape and used watercolour paints to add colour to the flowers ........ 

A few ink splatters in the same shades, a simple sentiment and a few sparkly gems finish everything off nicely.

Next up ...... Brushos.  

I stamped and embossed the image again, this time using a black ink and a clear EP

Then I used Brusho Pigment Powders to add the colour ...... lightly sprinkling the powder onto the flowers, and then spritzing with water to move the colour around.  The more water, the more the colour moves.  As you can see I wasn't too careful to keep the colour just on the flowers, I wanted it to spread outside the lines. 

Once this was all dry, I used the same colours of Brusho to paint over the flowers again, adding more colour to the petals, and building up the depth of colour gradually

A sentiment stamped on the bottom .....

 

and some co-ordinating cardstock layers ties everything together.

Last one for now is my favourite ........ I love a bit of fussy cutting!

A nice CAS design, using the pretty floral stamp to create a decorative edge for my card

Stamped and embossed, this time in gold, and coloured the flowers using Brush Markers 

I then fussy cut around the outer edge of the stamping, leaving a small border around the image (this is more forgiving than cutting right up to the embossed line)

To make this stand out more when the card is closed, I picked out one of the shades from the flowers and attached a piece of similar coloured card to the inside, adding a touch of shading with a Distress Ink to the edges

 A simple sentiment stamped on the front, and a few ink splatters to finish it all off

That's just one of the new stamps ....... pretty isn't it!? 

I'll share some more of the new floral designs with you over the next few days.

Well, I think that's just about covered everything for now.  It's so nice to be back, and hopefully you've made it to the end of this rather long post.

My intention is to get back in the habit of blogging more frequently, and once we get back home the craft room should be well and truly open again ....... mojo permitting!

Thanks for popping by .......... have a great week.  

We have the Coronation celebrations to look forward to this coming weekend.  

We will be travelling again on Saturday but, hopefully we'll get to see some of it.

In the meantime ...... 

Cheerio until next time ....... from the banks of Loch Linnhe.  

Not a bad way to end the day!

A quick catch up ......... (or not so quick as it turns out!)

Happy Wednesday!

What a gorgeous few days we're having here on the island ....... and the forecast is looking good towards the weekend too!

As it's such a lovely day we've decided to get out in the motorhome (again!), and make the most of the sunshine. We've been parked in a great little spot, not far from the beach, up in the north of the island in a place called Smeale.

Hubby's been working from the van (isn't the interent wonderful!), we had a nice walk along the beach after lunch, and we've decided to stay the night. 

It's so quiet and peaceful here, the locals look friendly enough ........

and apart from the odd dog walker or two, we've had the place to ourselves all day.  It's given me the perfect opportunity to catch up with you all.

It's been a while since I've posted regularly on here, and there's a few reasons for that.

1 ..... I haven't been doing much in the craft room ..... well nothing productive anyway!

2 ..... the CAS Mix Up challenge is taking a break ....... so no DT stuff to do there

3 ..... it was my birthday a couple of weeks ago, and the celebrations just seem to be going on and on for that!

and 4 ...... we've been off island in the motorhome.

So, as you can see it's been a little busy around here. 

My rather large birthday, that I wasn't really looking forward to if truth were known, was actually lots of fun  ........ turning 60 isn't that bad after all!

Celebrations started early with a whole day planned by Lauren.  Lunch out at the Little Fish ...... yum!

The food was amazing as always, and there were gifts and flowers waiting for me at the restaurant bless her! (Sorry forgot to take photos)

We spent the afternoon shopping in all of my favourite shops, and finished the day off at Brightlife for a massage and an evening in the Spa ........... just heaven!

Chris's partner Myra joined us up there too which was a lovely surprise  ...... and oooh! look ...... we had bubbly!

It really was a lovely day 💓

My actual birthday was just as much fun ........ family and friends round during the day (more bubbles!) a lovely meal out in the evening ....... mmmmm Lobster, my favourite!

A birthday chocolate fondant ......... I don't usually do dessert!

And ........  more bubbly from the staff at the restaurant

There was even dancing going on ........ once I got back home! 

60 ........ no problem!!

Then it was off to the UK.
We had to take the motorhome over for its service and habitation checks so we thought we might as well make a trip of it and do a bit of exploring, and try a couple of campsites.

We had a pleasant trip across on the ferry, not bumpy at all.  And after a quick overnight stop to see family and friends, our next destination was Knaresborough in North Yorkshire.

What a lovely place.  We only stayed the one night on a Caravan & Motorhome Club campsite which was lovely.  We'll definitely be going back there.  

In fact, the whole of North Yorkshire looks very inviting so we're already planning another trip there.

The campsite was just a short walk from the town and as it was such a lovely day, off we went.

We had a stroll around the town, with a cheeky coffee and cake stop off, then walked back along the river before heading back to the campsite.

It was a lovely walk but, I'll bet it's stunning along there when all the leaves are on the trees ...... we will definitley go back at some point!

The next couple of nights were spent in Nottingham at the motorhome dealers for the service ..... the night before and the night after!  Not much to report there ...... the service was fine.  Remi was all good, and they fixed all the little annoying things that had cropped up over the months. 

We did have a day out though whilst Remi was in the workshop.  We hired a car and spent the day at the Denby Pottery.  Well, we were so close it would have been rude not to go.   And who doesn't need new crockery every now and then!

Our next little stop was a place called Monach Lakeside Park in Lincolnshire ..... a certified location for the Caravan & Motorhome Club.

  

Why here? ......well, it wasn't very far from a favourite farm shop/butchers we found on one of our Norfolk trips.  Again, we were so close, we just had to visit.

We only one night spent here but, it was a great little stop over.   Very peaceful, very clean and tidy, and the facilities were brilliant.  We were the only van there so, apart from the guys fishing around the lakes, we had the place to oursleves ....... bit like today really.   It's definitely been marked as a future stopover.

From there we headed back up to Lancashire for one more night seeing family and then it was back to the Isle of Man.

Well done if you're still with me, it's been a long post.  I think I'm all caught up now though.  

I am trying to get back into the craft room, so hopefully I'll have more to share with you soon.

  

It's time for a cold beer now I think ....  Cheers!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day, and the sunshine if it's nice where you are.

Cheerio until next time ......